How humble should we be when we approach God in prayer?
Luke 18:13
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector
Luke 18 has two parables on prayer. The first one we already studied—the persistent widow, teaching us that we should always pray and never lose heart. Immediately after that comes the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. It’s about these two men who went up to the temple to pray. Jesus said the Pharisee, “prayed about himself” (Luke 18:11), citing his track record of righteousness through religiosity. He even thanked God that he was not like other men because of his fasting and tithing and his general purity from the overt evil he saw in tax collectors and “sinners” around him. That man had no idea how repugnant his demeanor was to God and how disgusting was his prayer.
By contrast, the tax collector “stood at a distance” (Luke 18:13). This represented his sense of utter unworthiness. He could not lift his face to heaven so heavily did his sins weigh on him. He beat his breast out of agony over his guilt, and he begged God, “Have mercy on me, a sinner.” This is the essence of what Jesus meant in his Beatitudes by which he began the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the spiritual beggars (those who know they have literally nothing to offer spiritually), for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn (over their sins), for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:3-4, paraphrase). The people Jesus welcomes into the throne room of grace are those who know they have no right to be there, and only by the grace and mercy of Christ is access granted to them. Jesus summed up the lesson of this parable quite clearly when he said, “This man rather than the Pharisee went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:14).
The people Jesus welcomes into the throne room of grace are those who know they have no right to be there.
From Dust to Dust
How humble should we be when we approach God in prayer? Even Abraham, called the “friend of God,” when he interceded over Sodom and Gomorrah called himself “nothing but dust and ashes” (Genesis 18:27). He knew the entire human race was formed from the dust of the earth, and as God pronounced the death penalty over Adam after he sinned, God said, “Dust you are and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19). We should be humble because we are creatures, and we should be infinitely humbler because we are sinners. The tax collector took the lowest possible position as he approached God in prayer… standing far away and not even lifting his eyes upward.
The Humble Approach
Jesus told another parable about a banquet, saying we should intentionally take the lowest seat so that when the host comes in, he will say, “Friend, move up to a better place” (Luke 14:10). So will God exalt everyone who enters his throne room with the proper humility. Say, “God, I know that I am a sinner saved by grace. I know that it is only because your beloved Son shed his blood for me that you are willing to even look at me, never mind hear my words. I am also mindful of the fact that, despite the many truths you have poured into my mind through your holy word, I still sin daily. I am deeply grieved over these sins. But I also know that you have commanded me to enter this throne room of grace through the opening rent in the curtain when Jesus died. You are commanding me to draw near in full assurance of faith. And so, I do. But of myself, I am nothing but dust and ashes, and my best righteous works are all needing cleansing by your grace.”
Humble yourself fully and completely when you come near to God. Remember that Jesus said, “Heaven is God’s throne, and the earth is his footstool” (Matthew 5:34-35). How then can we feel anything but humble as creatures coming to such a mighty God? Jesus also said, “No one is good but God alone” (Mark 10:18),and “From the heart come evil thoughts, murder, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These make a man unclean” (Matthew 15:19-20). We should be doubly humbled—as creatures, we are dust; as sinners, we are unclean. But as Christians, we will be radiantly glorious, and as redeemed, we are already perfectly clean. So, when you pray, glorify God from your doubly humbled heart!
